Vegetarian Recipe Blog

Author: redchillies

The kiddo loves pasta as far as I can remember. We have been to many a long trips, functions, picnics etc carrying a bowl of pasta knowing a fall back option in case he does not eat anything else. But the caveat has been that eats the boiled pasta as is without any flavorings like tomato sauce, cheese or any vegetables in it. My worry had been more about the later than the former; hence I was on lookout for adding veggies that would appeal to him and also be nutritious. That is when the idea of adding onion and capsicum came in.

The idea of adding onion and bell pepper to the pasta was an accidentally discovery. Few days ago, when we had been to our favorite joint Chipotle, for lunch he had his usual rice, black bean and corn combination. On that particular day the fajitas were very well done. Taking my chances I offered him little bit of their fajitas and he seemed to loved the taste of it. So from that day on, I have been adding the combination of onion and pepper to other dishes as well including this pasta.

I know I am on a mango spree, with back to back recipes on mangoes; but if you are a mango lover like me, then there is no such thing as too much mangoes, right? I had made this Mango Salsa along with Yogurt Rice for a picnic that we had last weekend with some family friends.

Few of our family friends and us decided to meet last week and decided to have a picnic by meeting up at a park. Some park names were thrown in and finally a name was selected that was ok’ed by everybody. Now even though this park was only about 6 miles from our house we had not visited that park before.

Now park in our mind usually conjures images of lush green surroundings, beautiful flowers, playground, slides etc. Imagine our surprise when along with the usual park components we were treated with this big and beautiful picturesque lake. People in the park were having a gala time playing in the water. We wasted no time getting into the water, splashing around a huge relief from the scorching sun that is prevailing here in Texas.

Over all it was a good change for all; good food, good conversation, catching up etc and the kids had a blast playing in the water, swings, slides, running jumping etc. End of it all it was worth every bit and glorious end to the weekend. Of course, we have told ourselves that we will be going there more often especially during summer.

When life gives you crate of mangoes, what do you do? Well, for starters you eat them as fast as you can and with whatever is remaining you make either Mango Jam, Mango Shrikhand, Mango Milkshake or this quick and easy Mango Curry :-).

Fresh, juicy and luscious mangoes are making their appearance in the groceries here. One look at the mangoes and it appeared as if they were calling our names and pleading us to take them with themJ. So we wasted no time in buying a crate of these and we have been relishing them ever since.

Even though we do not get the varieties that we usually get in India, we are not complaining. And why so, you ask? Well because the only option to fresh mangoes is the canned Mango Pulp that is loaded with citric acid and sugar. So these fresh ones are way better than the flavorless pulp, right? The variety that we get here in the US (at least in the place where we live) are called the Ataulfo Mangoes.

Being the typical Konkani family, we swear by our coconuts and of course mangoes. There is nothing that spells comfort like the combination of mango in coconut masala; hence the dish Mango curry. ‘Ambo/Ambya’ is Konkani word for Mango and ‘sasam’ is mustard. If you have not tasted this before and or have some inhibitions about the addition of fruit in a curry then please do not hesitate. The sweet taste mangoes, complements the spicy and tangy flavors of the coconut paste. Do give it a try once and you will be pleasantly surprised.